Aelfric of Bebbanburg
Aelfric was the Ealdorman of Bebbanburg from 866, succeeding Ealdorman Uhtred of Bebbanburg. He usurped the seal and banner of Bebbanburg from his nephew, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, after the older Uhtred's death in battle at York in 866, and he was loyal to the Danes under Earl Kjartan. Biography Aelfric was born in Bebbanburg, Northumbria, the brother of Ealdorman Uhtred of Bebbanburg, whom he served as Steward. In 866, as Viking longships approached Bamburgh Castle, Uhtred sent Aelfric to send word to rouse the country and bring every man inside of the fortress to assist in its defense. When Uhtred decided to leave the castle to join King Aella of Northumbria's army at Eoferwic, Aelfric was entrusted with selecting 30 men to serve as bodyguards to his son Uhtred, Uhtred's heir, leaving Aelfric to care for his nephew as steward. The treacherous Alferic secretly instructed Scallion that, if his brother died in battle, the boy must fall. The younger Uhtred secretly escaped and followed his father to the Siege of York, where the older Uhtred was killed. The younger Uhtred was then taken as a slave by Earl Ragnar, who raised him to become a pagan. Aelfric came to be the de facto ruler of Bebbanburg, and, in 867, he was approached by the exiled Viking Kjartan, who offered Aelfric the ability to buy back his nephew, revealing that Uhtred was still alive. At the ransom meeting with the Vikings, the priest Beocca reunited with the young Uhtred, and, while pretending to inspect his necklace, he quietly warned Uhtred that Aelfric would have him murdered so that he himself could become the new Ealdorman and a King of Northumbria. Ultimately, Ragnar purchased Uhtred, preventing Aelfric from taking him. Aelfric then sent Scallion to kill Uhtred, allying with Kjartan. Aelfric and Kjartan's men burned down the great hall at Leeds, killing Ragnar, his father Ravn, and his wife, and Uhtred was initially believed to have been among the dead; the only located survivor was Thyra Ragnarsdottir. However, Uhtred stealthily killed Scallion, who was a member of the war party, and Uhtred and his lover Brida rode back to Bebbanburg, where Uhtred threw Scallion's head in front of the castle as Aelfric watched. Aelfric sent men to hunt down and kill both Uhtred and Brida, but they managed to escape his assassins. In 878, King Guthred sought Aelfric's alliance against Kjartan, asking him to provide 200 spearmen. Aelfric said that his business with the Danes had long been over, and that he would help Guthred in exchange for the head of Uhtred (whom he called "Osbert", refusing to grant him legitimacy by calling him the heir's name of "Uhtred"). However, when Aelfric discovered that Uhtred had instead been sold into slavery instead of beheaded, he felt that he had wasted his time, and he decided to go back to Kjartan. Abbot Eadred Lulisc pressured Guthred to have his sister Gisela Harthacnutsdottir marry Aelfric as a means of bribing him into resuming his loyalty. Category:Northumbrian nobles Category:Northumbrians Category:Nobles Category:Anglo-Saxons Category:Catholics Category:English